"I chose Emory for medical school because of its commitment to excellence in all meanings of the word. The clinical exposure, opportunities for community involvement, and camaraderie at Emory are all unmatched.”
Ashley Harriott, 2024 Doctor of Medicine (MD) candidate, is originally from Johns Creek, Georgia. She earned her bachelor's degree in neuroscience and a minor in global health and policy at Harvard. As a small child, Ashley dreamed of being a doctor like her father, who was an OBGYN in Kingston, Jamaica. However, by the time she started college, she wasn’t sure if the path of medicine was right for her. While working at a nonprofit in college, she realized the positive impact you can create with an MD.
Ashley instantly felt a deep kinship for Emory, saying, “I chose Emory for medical school because of its commitment to excellence in all meanings of the word. The clinical exposure, opportunities for community involvement, and camaraderie at Emory are all unmatched.” She especially felt at home in the School of Medicine. “The warmth and kindness I encountered from both students and faculty at Emory made it clear that this was where I belonged.” She made many friends at Emory. She remembers the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon fondly. “I’ve participated in several races during medical school, including three half-marathons; this one was particularly special because we all did it together.”
Match Day will reveal where Ashley will continue her training in anesthesiology. She hopes to pursue a career in critical care one day. “The chance to work at Grady Memorial Hospital, which has an extra special place in Atlanta's heart, was also a major factor in my decision,” she says. One of Ashley’s defining moments during medical school was completing an anesthesiology rotation at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Reflecting on this experience, Ashley remarks, “This was a dream of mine that was fully supported by Emory. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to learn more about a different health care system and grow my passion for global health.”
Ashley has demonstrated leadership and skillful advocacy as vice president of the School of Medicine’s MD Class of 2024 for three years and then as president during her final year of medical school. “Having the trust of my classmates and the platform to advocate for them has meant the world to me over the past four years.” She has also been an active member of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) leadership, an organization with the goals of increasing the number of physicians serving minority and indigent communities and developing future minority health professionals. As a member of SNMA, she has mentored students. “It's been incredibly rewarding to offer advice to students who were in the same shoes I was just a year ago!”
Because of her personal and academic accomplishments, she was awarded an ElevateMeD scholarship. The scholarship serves to increase physician workforce diversity by developing the next generation of physician leaders from African American/Black, Latinx, and Native American backgrounds. "Being a part of the ElevateMeD scholarship program means the absolute world to me,” she shared during a video thanking the committee. “I feel like I was welcomed into a community with wide open arms, to be supported, to be around people who look like me, and just being around likeminded people who are trying to make an impact in medicine, increase diversity, and support students who are going along this path trying to make something of themselves. I feel really honored to be a scholar.”
As Ashley looks to the next chapter of her journey, she fondly remembers the day her Emory School of Medicine acceptance letter came. “I still get emotional thinking about the day I found out I was accepted to Emory and the reaction my mother had when she realized I would be coming home.”
During Match Day Ashley learned she matched at Mass General Brigham in anesthesiology.
